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$8.8m '58 Ferrari 250 GT California Spider highlights RM's Arizona auction

All manner of vehicles change hands at the annual auction extravaganza in Arizona, but never has one sold for as much as the Ferrari you see here. The car in question is an (obviously) eminently desirable 1958 Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spider, one of only 50 ever made and purring onto the stage in flawless red over black livery with matching numbers of the coveted covered headlights straight from the factory.
When we reported on the car's consignment in anticipation of this weekend's sale, it was expected to bring in between $7 and 9 million - and it's done just that, coming in near the top of its valuation with a winning bid of $8.8 million. That makes for a lot of zeros, but while it set a new record for the Arizona auctions, it hardly makes it the most expensive in the world. That honor still belongs to the Mercedes-Benz W196 that sold last summer for nearly $30 million. Nor is it the most expensive Ferrari ever sold at auction, an honor which still belongs to the 250 Testa Rossa that sold for over $16 million in 2011. Heck, it's not even the most expensive 250 California ever sold, coming in behind the SWB example that sold for nearly $11 million in 2008. All of which only goes to show just how insane the collector classic car market has grown in recent years.
The California was undeniably the highlight of RM's two-day sale, but was joined by several other seven-dollar lots, including a 1961 Porsche 718 ($2.75 million), a Ferrari 250 GT Lusso ($2.44 million), a Duesenberg Model J convertible ($2.2 million) and several other million-dollar Ferraris, Mercedes and a '35 Hispano-Suiza. A 1961 Chaparral 1 failed to reach its reserve price despite a high bid of $1.75 million, neither did a 1966 Porsche 906 Carrera 6 at $1.18 million or a Ferrari 275 GTB/4 at $2.85 million. RM Auctions did, however, manage to sell 85 percent of those lots consigned to bring in a massive two-day total of $45.56 million in sales, details of which you can read in the press release below.

Race Recap: Belgian Grand Prix is new skirmishes, same war [spoilers]

It's been four weeks since we last saw a Formula One race, when Lewis Hamilton improbably put his Mercedes-AMG Petronas in P1 in Hungary. Even more improbably, he held onto the first spot at the finish of the race, ahead of Kimi Räikkönen in the Lotus and Sebastian Vettel in the Infiniti Red Bull.
Resuming the season at Belgium's Spa-Francorchamps circuit this weekend, Hamilton picked up his recent - and just as improbable - pole-setting form by putting the Mercedes in P1 for the fourth time in a row. The effort came during a qualifying session visited by intermittent rains and dry spells, his 54th trip to the front of the pack, tying Niki Lauda.
But neither the fireworks and surprises, the mid-field full of backmarkers, nor the tire strategies and timing choices changed the mission for the drivers in with a chance at the title: finish in front of Vettel.

Gary Cooper's 1935 Duesenberg SSJ fetches record price at Pebble Beach

The 1935 Duesenberg SSJ formerly owned by Gary Cooper sold for a jaw-dropping $22 million over the weekend at the Gooding & Co. Pebble Beach auction, setting a record for the most valuable pre-war car ever sold at auction. It also appears to have become the most expensive American collector car ever sold at auction, eclipsing the very first Shelby Cobra ever made, which sold for $13.75 million in 2016. The Duesenberg was also the lone American-made entrant in the list of top 10 sellers, which was crowded with the names Ferrari and Porsche. You have to go all the way down the list to No. 21 to find the next American car: a 1930 Packard 734 Speedster Phaeton, which sold for a mere $1.127 million. All told, Gooding & Co. said it realized more than $116.5 million in auction sales over the weekend, with a whopping 25 cars sold for north of $1 million, an 84 percent sales rate and an average transaction price of $947,174. Clearly this is how the other half 1 percent lives. Gooding & Co. said there were five world-record sales at the auction. Joining the Duesenberg were a 1955 Ferrari 500 Mondial Series II, which sold for $5.005 million; a 1958 Ferrari 250 GT Tour de France Berlinetta, $6.6 million; a 1967 Ferrari 330 GTC Speciale, $3.41 million; and a one-of-two 1966 Ferrari Dino Berlinetta GT, $3.08 million. Oh, and that 1969 Ford Bronco test vehicle we told you about? The one that was rebadged by Holman & Moody as a Bronco Hunter? It sold for $121,000, which was well below the expected range of $180,000 to $220,000. Perhaps it was the presence of all those gorgeous Porsche Spyders and Ferraris that meant collectors weren't interested in boxy, utilitarian off-roaders. View 24 Photos Gooding and Co. had expected the convertible Duesenberg coupe to go for more than $10 million. It was one of only two of its kind built by Duesenberg — the other having gone to Clark Gable — with a specially shortened, 125-inch wheelbase and a supercharged straight-eight with double overhead cams, able to produce around 400 horsepower and a top speed of 140 miles per hour. It features a lightweight open-roadster bobtail body produced by LaGrande out of Connersville, Ind. The car was also owned at one point by race driver Briggs Cunningham.